After years of international pressure, the U.S. is finally forcing growers to cease their use of methyl bromide, an odorless and invisible chemical that has been found to be a major depleter of the earth's ozone layer. In a scramble to find a replacement for this widely-used pesticide, scientists have settled on methyl iodide. While methyl iodide does not pose the same threat to the ozone layer as methyl bromide, it is perhaps even more toxic for humans.

Methyl bromide is widely used on Florida's tomato and strawberry crops. The followingarticle shows the struggle in California over whether the state will permit methyl iodide to be used as a replacement for methyl bromide. Florida will have to make a similar decision soon. Worker advocates may well want to monitor the handling of this issue by Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Click here for more.

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An Inconvenient Truth: Immigrants Are
Critical to Florida’s Future Saturday,
December 3rd, 2011 - Selby Library
Auditorium - 2 to 4pm. Panelists: Kelly
Kirschner Former Sarasota Mayor and current
Director of Unidos Now Rev. Charles McKenzie
State Coordinator of the Rainbow-PUSH
Coalition Open to the public. No cost.
Sponsored by Sarasota/Manatee Farmworker
Supporters